A full calendar of events can be found in the Compass App

5th April - Twilight Sports
6th April - End of Term 1 - 2.30pm finish
6th April - After School Care Finish time - 5.30pm
24th April - First day of Term 2 - 8.55am start
25th April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday

Well done to our fantastic 5/6 students who represented our school at the Lightning Premiership last week. We received wonderful feedback about the way the students conducted themselves throughout the event and we even had a team make the finals! An amazing effort.

Canteen Survey and Committee Invitation

We are very lucky to have the support of Shino and Binh giving their time to coordinate the canteen however, all school canteens should operate under the School Council with either an appointed school canteen manager overseeing the canteen or outsourcing to another provider to offer the service. We would like your input regarding the canteen and its future. Please complete this very short survey here regarding whether you would prefer the school to hire a canteen manager and continue with volunteers, or you would prefer the school to outsource the service. We would also like parents and carers to join a canteen consultative committee in the possible event that we seek outsourcing. Please complete the survey to express your interest in being part of this group.

Twilight Sports Update

We are very lucky that the weather is predicted to be sunny for tomorrow’s Twilight Sports. Given our luck with the weather we will be holding parent races after the student events from 5:50pm. Please bring a picnic and come and support your children and their school House! The event begins at 5pm so don’t be late!

School Review

As part of our School Review we sent out a survey regarding the School Philosophy and Values. Please review this policy as part of our consultation with community and let us know via this survey (another short one I promise) whether you agree with our current policy.

Compass Direct Communication

Did you know that you can email any staff member via Compass. If you click on “send email to the teachers” you can search for the staff member you wish to email and add them to the communication. We hope this supports our goal to improve responsive communication.

Musical- The Lion King Jr

A very big congratulations to all our year 5 and 6 students who auditioned for the musical last week. The panel and I were extremely impressed with not only the talent on display but the courage it took for our students to have a go and perform on their own in front of staff. Regardless of who is successful, all students and their families should be very proud of their efforts.

Staffing

We say a sad farewell to Leanne Keller at the end of Term 1. Leanne has been successfully appointed by Kingston City Council to undertake OH&S operations. Leanne’s work, both as an inclusion staff member and as part of the admin team has been amazing and she will leave a big hole at MVPS. We wish Leanne every success!

Reminders:

Annual Report to the School Community Wednesday 26th of April 7pm via Webex
We welcome all families to join School Council for the presentation of the MVPS Annual Report on Wednesday, 26th if April at 7pm via this link.

Ready Set Prep 2024 2nd May 6pm
If you have friends with children starting Prep in 2024 encourage them to attend our Prep Readiness Session on the 2nd of May. They can register their attendance here.

And finally, many of our students will be celebrating Easter, Hana Matsuri, Songkran, Thingyan, Khmer New Year, Pii Mai, the Tamil New Year, Navavarsha, Pohela Boishakh and the conclusion of Ramadan. We look forward to hearing about your celebrations and experiences next term.

Happy holidays!
Tracy Skiba
Principal

MVPS Policies

Child Safe Standards
Victoria’s Child Safe Standards were put in place in 2016 to protect children and young people from harm and abuse. Since their introduction, the Child Safe Standards (the Standards) have increased the safety of children and young people in organisations that provide services for them. Changes are being made to the Standards that will increase protection for children and young people and provide clarity for organisations that must comply with the Standards.
Eleven Standards replaced the existing seven in July 2022 and included requirements to:
• involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
• provide greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
• manage the risk of child abuse in online environments.
The new Standards provide greater clarity and practical steps for each Standard. They outline what action organisations need to take to keep children and young people safe. Any organisation or group that provides services or facilities for children or engages a child as a contractor, employee or volunteer, you have a legal obligation to comply with the Child Safe Standards.
Over the next few newsletters, I will share different policies that align with the Child Safe Standards:

Child Safety Code of Conduct
Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
Child Safety Responding and Reporting Obligations Policy and Procedures

All policies are sourced from The Department of Education’s School Policy Templates Portal and Policy and Advisory Library. Adjustments are then made to the different policies to fit in with our school needs. If you have any questions relating to either of these polices, please contact me. All our school policies can be found on our website.

I hope you all have a safe a restful holiday break.
Amy Tinetti
Assistant Principal

MVPS Community Announcement
On Friday 7th April The Valley Foodstore will be serving coffee from 7am-11am and all proceeds will be donated to the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

Free Dress Thursday 6th April

This Thursday the JSC team is holding a FREE DRESS DAY to raise money for the Cancer Council. All students are encouraged to bring a gold coin donation. Thank you for your support.

ANZAC Day

As ANZAC Day is closely approaching, the JSC team will be selling ANZAC memorabilia. If your child would like to purchase a pin, pen, bracelet or keyring, they will have an opportunity to do so each day, after lunch.

Thanks,
The Junior School Council Team

Finish time for OSHC on Thursday 6th April

After School Care on the last day of term will commence at 2.30pm and finish at 5.30pm. The duration of time is the same with an earlier finish time.

Do you need any assistance with the use of Compass?

All permissions for Excursions, Incursions, Camps and Sport are now required to be done on Compass. These come up in your App in the Events section and let you know if they are completed or require permission. We have noticed many families are not completing these by the due dates and would like to make sure that you call or come and see us at the office if you are having difficulties with this. In the lead up to the due date, you will be emailed to remind you to give permission and there is a link in the email that takes you to your Events in Compass.

2022 AGM

Last night the Parents Association met to finalise the 2022 reporting as part of our AGM. We reflected on a successful 2022 where the PA was able to support a range of community events and fundraising initiatives in line with our constitution to support the wellbeing of the school community and enhance the learning experiences of our children. We proudly supported the purchase of new classroom readers, a new public address audio system and new robotics kits in 2022. The remainder of 2022 profits will now be combined with the profits from Carnival to support the Learning off the Land program which will be defined in the coming months. Copies of the full 2022 reporting including presidents report and financial summaries are available at the school office or by emailing mvps_pa@outlook.com.

2023 Parents Association

At the AGM the 2023 Parents Association committee was officially appointed:

President: Chantal McCrae

Secretary: Sophia Fatouros

Treasurer: June Wang

General Members: Samantha Moffatt, Adrian Connard, Sarah Jenkins, Allison Brudenell, Darcie Weetman, Ruwani Jayaweera.

Easter Egg Hunt during last week of Term

The Parents Association will be sponsoring the purchase of Easter Eggs for the kids to participate in an Easter Egg hunt during the last few days of Term 1. If you would like to request that your child does not participate please let your class teacher know.

Ice cream Day – Last Day of Term

Ice creams are available for purchase on the last day of term. Orders are due by 8pm on Wednesday 5th April through Quickcliq.

One thing we are very proud of here at Malvern Valley is the strength of our community. Whilst often that means having fun together and collectively sharing in the joy of our children’s education, sometimes it also means helping each other out in times of need. We are all thrown obstacles during our journey through life and sometimes a little help from our friends makes a world of difference.

“Friends of Malvern Valley” is a mechanism by which families in need can anonymously seek support from the broader MVPS community. This may be in the form of providing meals, picking up or dropping off children, donating clothing/books/toys etc.

Every year we call on families to register their interest in becoming a “Friend of Malvern Valley” and indicate in our database where you may be able to assist a family in need. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be called on, but that you will receive an alert if a family is in need and can indicate at the time whether you can assist or not. If you are happy to be on the Friends of Malvern Valley contact list please register your details here. Please also mark the email address fomv@outlook.com in your safe senders list to ensure that emails don’t go to your junk mail.

If you feel that you’re in a situation yourself that could use some assistance through this program, please contact the Principal, Tracy Skiba.

Thanks in advance for your support.